Ruffler for sewing-machines.



N0. 833,217. PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906/ W. JAMES. RUFFLBR FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1904.

chine between the I WILLIAM JAMES,

OF GREENVILLE, MISSISSIPPI.

RUFFLEH FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed July 30, 1904. Serial No. 218,881.

T0 tZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JAMEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greenville, in the county of Washington and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and useful Rufflcr for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention relates to improvements in rufflers for sewin '-machines.

Heretofore ru 'ng attachments have been applied at the right-hand side of the needlebar of a sewing-machine and the goods to be ruffled have been introduced into the ruffling attachment from the left-hand side. Therefore when a rufiie was placed on a piece of fabric it has been necessary, first, to gather the material to form the ruffle second, to baste by hand the gathered material to the fabric, and, third, to sew the gathered material to the fabric, making in all three operations. With such rufliing attachments it has been attempted to complete the work with one operation of the machine; but owing to the fact that the skirt or other garment to which the rufiie is to be applied must be passed under the head of the maneedle-bar and the arm of the head it has been rarely resorted to, and. the three separate operations have been deemed preferable. In the first place it is inconvenient and difficult to force the large mass of material composing the skirt under the arm of the machine and at the same time guide with the left hand the material to be ruffled. Also in attempting to complete the ruffle with one operation the material of the garment is necessarily brought into contact with various portions of the sewing-machine, and frequently it has been soiled or ruined by oil.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of. rufiiers for sewing-machines and to enable a ruflie to be applied to a garment or other fabric by a single operation of the machine without the material of the garment or other fabric coming in contact with the arm or adjacent portions of the same, thereby saving both time and labor and at the same time preventing the fabric from being soiled by the flow of oil from the machine.

A further object of the invention is to so arrange the parts that the skirt or other garment to which a ruflie is to be applied will lie able lace or braid to be applied to the garment simultaneously with the said rufliing operation.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details of construction within the scope of the claim may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a sewing-machine provided with a ruflier constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional View of the clamp. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the same.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

A indicates the standard, I) the arm, and c the head, of an ordinary sewing-machine.

1 designates the foot of a ruffling attachment, which may be varied in construction, the essential features being the connection of the attachment to the needle-bar at the lefthand or outer side of the latter, or the side thereof farthest fromthe machine-standard, in combination with the arrangement at the left-hand or outer side of the needle-bar of the mechanism for operating the rufflingplate and adjusting the throw of the same, whereby the material to be ruffled may be introduced into the attachment at the righthand or inner side of the same. The foot of the rufiiing attachment is secured to the presser-bar 2 in the ordinary manner, and it is provided at its outer side with a standard 3, extending forwardly and upwardly. and forming a support for an operating-lever 4. The operatinglever 4, which is of bell-crank form, is pivoted at its angle and is provided with a depending arm 5, on which is mounted ICC a Vertically-adjustable fork 6, adapted to be arranged at different distances from the pivotal point of the operating-lever for controllin the throw or movement ofareciprocating rufiiing-plate 7, which is located at the righthand side of the standard.

The rufliing-plate is mounted on a carrier 8, which is pivotally connected at its front end to an oscillatory link 9, and the latter is engaged by the said adjustable fork 6. The fork is adjusted by means of a screw 10, suitably pivoted to the lever and having a polygonal portion 11, which is yieldably engaged by a spring 12, whereby the adjusting-screw is held against accidental rotation to retain the fork 6 in its adjustment. The separatorplate 13 is arranged beneath the rufiiingplate and is interposed in the usual manner between the garment or other fabric and the material of which the ruffle is made. The separator-plate is provided at its outeror left-hand side with an attaching portion 14, which is detachably secured to the standard and which is adapted to be removed for shirring. The standard and the foot constitute the frame of the attachment, and the carrier for the ruffling-plate and the attaching portion of the separator-plate may be mounted on this frame in any well-known manner, as such details do not constitute a portion of the present invention. The ruffling attachment is designed to be provided with a braider 15 for enabling braid or similar material to be stitched to the garment simultaneously with the ruffling operation. The rufl'ling-plate and the separator-plate extend from the inner or righthand side of the frame or support, and the inner or righthand side of the attachment is open and entirely free to receive the material to be ruffled and the braid or other material to be applied, and this will enable the skirt or other garment to be introduced into or beneath the attachment from the outer or left-hand side and to lie upon and be supported by the leaf of the machine.

The bell-crank lever 4 is provided with an upper rearwardly-extending arm 16, having a forked portion 17 for engagement with a rounded lug or projection 18 of a clamp 19, consisting of a block or piece having an opening 20, through which passes the needle-bar 21, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The clamp is secured to the needlebar by means of a set-screw 22, arranged at the inner or right-hand side of the clamp. The rounded lug or projection 19 extends from the outer or left-hand side of the clamp, being located at a point diametrically opposite the clarnping-screw 22, so that there is no liability of the oscillation of the operatinglever loosening or otherwise affecting the operation of the screw. As the needle-bar is reciprocated the attachment is operated in the usual manner.

It will be apparent that by the exceeding simple and inexpensive arrangement herein described a ruffle may be applied to a garment or other fabric by a single operation, with the garment lying at the outer or lefthand side of the attachment in a position to be supported by the leaf of the machine, while the material to be ruffled is introduced into the attachment and guided by the right hand, and that braid, lace, or other material may be applied to the garment or other fabric simultaneously with such operation.

From this it will be clear that a great saving of both time and labor is effected by the present invention, that no liability of the material being spoiled or soiled by the flow of oil from the machine, and that as the material to be ruffled is introduced into the machine and guided by the right hand greater accuracy is secured than is possible with the attachments now in use.

Before concluding attention is directed to the fact that the standard 3 of the ruffler is located at the left of the machine-standard, and that between these two standards is located the stitching mechanism of the machine and the ruffling mechanism of the ruffler attachment, and that the separator-plate is attached to that side of the ruffler-support which is farthest from the machine-standard and extends under the ruflier-standard and toward the machinestandard, so that the fabric to which the ruffle is to be stitched is passed under the rufiiing attachment from the outside, while the strip to be ruffled is passed into the rufiiing attachment from the inside. Furthermore, attention is directed to the fact that the tappet 18 is not only adjustable longitudinally of the needle-bar 21 to dispose it in proper position for cooperation with the arm 16, but is also adjustable laterally in the slotted end of the arm 16, so as to present the tappet nearer to or farther from the fulcrum of the lever for the purpose of regulating the throw of the latter. By reason of this novel connection between the lever 16 and the needle-bar the adjustingscrew 11 ordinarily employed to regulate the ruffler may be entirely dispensed with, if desired.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a domestic sewing-machine, the combination with a machine-standard and a ruffier-standard located at the left-hand side 1 thereof, of an arm and head carried by the machine-standard, a presser-bar pendent from the head, a foot extended between the standards from the presser-bar and supporting the ruflier-standard, a ruffling-plate located between the standards and guided by the ruffler-standard, an operating-lever carried by the ruffler-standard and cooperatively related to the rufiling-plate, a needlebar reciprocating in the head and located between the operating-lever and the machinestandard, a lever-operating" projection extended from the needle-bar at that side thereof which is farthest from the machine-standard, means permitting the adjustment of said projection longitudinally of the bar and also laterally thereof toward and from the fulcrum of the operating-lever to regulate the throw of the latter, and a separator-plate secured to the ruflier standard and extended In testimony that I claim the foregoing as I 5 my own I have hereto afiiXed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM JAMES.

Witnesses:

R. S. GIEDART, J. F. MOORE. 

